Touch rugby is a little different from contact as the title would indicate; there is very limited contact, and the emphasis is rather on the handling and the running skills. It is great if you want to get fit while having fun with some friends.

Touch Rugby Summary
Touch is a field sport also known as Touch Football, Touch Rugby or Six Down. Touch is overseen worldwide by the Federation of International Touch (FIT) and now by the International Rugby Board (IRB). Touch has traditionally been played in Australia and New Zealand but the sport is expanding internationally and features its own World Cup.

Touch has a history in rugby league and rugby union. It originated directly from the sport of rugby league in the 1960s, with the tackle of opposing players replaced by a touch. Touch is therefore not a contact sport but a limited-contact sport. Distinctive features of Touch include the ease of learning, minimal equipment requirements and the ability to play it without fear of major injury. Whilst it is generally played with two teams of six on-field players, some social competitions allow up to seven players per team on the field. It is played by both sexes and in age divisions from primary school children to over-50s. The mixed version of the game (where both male and female players are on the field at the same time) is particularly popular with social players, and it is widely played in schools.

The Basel Group
Our group is made of many ages from 6 to 60 and boys and girls. We play on Sunday mornings (10am until 12noon) and on Monday evenings (7pm until 9pm). Sunday tends to be focused on families, and developing skills and basic rules whereas Monday is two hours of games. The skill levels vary but all are welcome whether you have played rugby or not, it doesn’t matter. Our motto – ALL ARE WELCOME…

Touch is an internationally recognised sport with many international competitions. As Basel is quite a new club only establishing some formality in last two years we rarely play competitively; however, we regularly play with the Zurich Geezers. Sometimes some Basel players play for Zurich if they want to play in overseas competitions. 2010 Basel had four players playing the Swiss National Touch Team in the European Championships, including the two youngest players in the tournament.